Oil holds gains, buoyed by hopes for robust demand

Written by Christopher Johnson at Reuters

Oil prices on Thursday held most of their gains of around 2 percent from the previous session, buoyed after the International Energy Agency raised its forecast for growth in global oil demand. London Brent crude for November delivery was down 11 cents at $55.05 a barrel by 0035 GMT, after settling Wednesday up 89 cents, or 1.6 percent. NYMEX crude for October delivery was down 4 cents at $49.26, after ending the last session up $1.07, or 2.2 percent.